MasterChef Canada home cooks get ground up by burger challenge

After a couple of really busy weeks where I wasn’t able to review MasterChef Canada—covering Canadian TV is a full-time job no matter what naysayers believe—it was great to return to the show and take some notes on it. This crop of home cooks has been very impressive so far; creating dishes that are the best-looking and tastiest the series has produced.

And though I love seeing a dish elevated, there is nothing like getting down to the basics, so I was particularly excited to see the remaining cooks grill up hamburgers for a group of men and ladies on motorcycles.

But “Burgers for Bikers” was no picnic, as the Top 9 quickly realized. (Shout out to the show’s producers for allowing Claudio to ride in on his motorcycle and cramming Alvin in a sidecar.) Two hundred hungry leather-clad folks rumbled into Toronto’s Evergreen Brickworks for meat and potatoes. Everyone has their own burger recipe—mine is lean ground beef, diced onion, egg, bread crumbs, barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce—so it was interesting to see how the red, green and blue teams were able to compromise and concoct something everyone was (mostly) happy with. Aaron’s leadership skills left Thea a bit cold—she didn’t think medium-rare, non-seasoned beef was the way to go—but that seemed to be the only concerns as prep work was underway … other than Mai keeping Justine and Miranda apart.

Service was, quite frankly, a nightmare. Having 200 people come running at once will do that, so it was expected. What wasn’t? Aaron’s decision to cook his burgers to order, a catastrophic move that sent hungry folks to the other two stations. Add to that not everyone likes medium rare and sent their patties back and the red team was reeling. It was no surprise his squad didn’t win. Instead, it was Mai’s green team that prevailed, proving she could lead a team and feed a hungry group.

Back in the MasterChef Canada kitchen, Aaron refused to apologize for medium-rare burgers and said he’d save himself from elimination if given the chance. That went counter to what his teammates thought but he did it anyway, sending Trevor and Thea into the Elimination Challenge. Alisha and Matt decided Barrie should be safe and he went up to the gallery to watch. The challenge was to make mille-feuille and Thea immediately brightened because she’s had experience baking.

To be honest, all of the desserts looked pretty good to me save for Alisha’s, and it came down to taste to decide who was going home. Tops were Thea and Matt with Alisha and Trevor taking a bit of a knock. Surprisingly, Alisha was cut not because of flavour but a pastry that wasn’t pretty.

Did you agree Alisha should have been eliminated? Let me know in the comments below.

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.